Adult education consortium and local workforce development board collaborate to build a strong workforce in Ventura County
Photo courtesy of Blanca Mendieta
In order to better build a strong local workforce, the Workforce Development Board (WDB) of Ventura County partners with various organizations in the region. These include local businesses and other government agencies, with one of the most important partners being the Ventura County Adult Education Consortium (VCAEC).
“Most of the time there is learning that needs to happen, there’s an upskilling that needs to occur, and that’s done through our education providers,” says Rebecca Evans, the board’s executive director since 2019. “So we work very closely with the community colleges and the adult education system.”
The partnership with VCAEC, Evans says, is vital to addressing three of the main barriers job seekers face when looking to start a career: Education, training and cost.
“When we’re working with a job seeker, they identify a career pathway they’re interested in and then we assess if they need additional learning or upskilling and what’s available locally,” Evans says. “The adult education system provides a very affordable route for that and they’re in tune with what’s in demand in our area.”
“We listen to reports from the workforce development board because they have a pulse as far as what jobs are available and what trends there are. We’re able to take back this information to the consortium so that we know how to better guide our classes.”
Blanca Mendieta, Fillmore Adult School Principal and Workforce Development Board of Ventura County Member
The relationship between the adult schools and the board is a mutually beneficial one. Blanca Mendieta, who serves as both a member of the WDB and principal of the Fillmore Adult School, says the resources the board provides are an essential factor in students being able to enroll in classes.
“As an adult school what we try to do is help an adult through the process of getting a higher education and getting a better job,” Mendieta says. “The workforce development board has a variety of resources that they could provide our adult students.”
Resources the board provides range from financial assistance for students to hosting job fairs to directly connecting job seekers—like graduates coming from career technical education programs available at VCAEC members schools—to employers. Mendieta notes one of the biggest things the board provides is information.
“We listen to reports from the workforce development board because they have a pulse as far as what jobs are available and what trends there are,” Mendieta says. “We’re able to take back this information to the consortium so that we know how to better guide our classes.”
Evans notes the partnership is vital to efficiently using the resources available to the board. WDBs like that in Ventura County oversee distribution of federal dollars from the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and other sources to support job seekers in accessing employment, education, training, and support services. Evans, who held various positions in nonprofit organizations and local government for roughly 14 years before joining the local WDB, says it’s a complex mission.
“You can spend all your time just trying to make sure you follow all the rules of the funding, as well as making sure that you’re recruiting enough job seekers to go through your program successfully and meet all the indicators that you’re required to meet,” she says.
“It’s always a matter of looking at what the best value is for the public dollar, for the taxpayer’s dollar, but also what is the greatest outcome for the person who is then going to work in our community,” Evans says. “They’re going to fill the need of an employer, and then that business is going to stay in business and do better.”
To learn more about services offered by the Ventura County Workforce Development Board, visit workforceventuracounty.org. To learn more about the Ventura County Adult Education Consortium, visit vcaec.org.
Written by Jacob Peterson
| Regions | Classes & Topics |
|---|---|
| South Coast California | Workforce Development Board |
